Academy Award and Golden Globe winner and ten-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter John Legend will guest star in the second season of “Underground,” created by Misha Green and Joe Pokaski.

John Legend

Legend, who also serves as executive producer on the gripping series, will portray iconic abolitionist, orator and author Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery, Douglass refused to let his circumstance determine his future. After he daringly escaped bondage in Maryland, he went on to become one of the most revolutionary leaders of the nineteenth century. A prominent writer, celebrated speaker and progressive political reformist, Douglass was a beacon of hope for many and a symbol of remarkable resilience. Season two of the riveting original drama from Sony Pictures Television is currently in production in Savannah, Georgia and will debut early 2017 on WGN America.

Frederick Douglass is among a growing list of historical figures featured in the Underground Railroad thriller. The cable network recently announced that Aisha Hinds (“Under the Dome,” “True Blood,” Star Trek Into Darkness) is stepping into a recurring guest star role as Harriet Tubman; and “Underground” also includes renowned African American abolitionist William Still (Chris Chalk) and notorious slave trader Patty Cannon (Sadie Stratton).

Damon Gupton

And in other news, Damon Gupton has joined the cast of “Criminal Minds” after Thomas Gibson was fired last month. CBS announced that Gupton’s character will be introduced in this season’s eighth episode. Reportedly, he will play a special agent from the behavioral analysis program of the FBI’s counterintelligence division. The network described the character as a

seasoned profiler who will bring his spy-hunting skill set to the behavioral analysis unit.

Gupton is an actor and orchestral conductor, best known for his television roles as Charles Foster on Deadline, Evrard Velerio on Prime Suspect, Adam Page on The Divide, Calvin Walker on Empire, and Cal Brown on The Player. He has also co-starred in the films The Last Airbender (2010) and Whiplash (2014).

Meanwhile, super model Naomi Campbell has snagged a recurring role in Fox’s new series, Star.
Campbell will play the role of “Rose Spencer,” the beautiful, wealthy and cultivated London-born mother of “Alexandra.”

Naomi Campbell

STAR follows three talented singers, desperate for a new start and with ambitions of stardom, as they navigate the cut-throat music business on their road to success. The series stars Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award, Grammy Award and Golden Globe Award winner Queen Latifah (“Bessie,” “Bringing Down The House”) as CARLOTTA, Emmy Award nominee Benjamin Bratt (“24: Live Another Day,” “Law & Order”) as JAHIL, newcomer Jude Demorest as STAR, newcomer Ryan Destiny as ALEXANDRA, Brittany O’ Grady as SIMONE and Amiyah Scott as COTTON. The series will also feature guest star and Grammy Award winner Lenny Kravitz (“Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “The Hunger Games”). STAR is a production of 20th Century Fox Television in association with Lee Daniels Entertainment. Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy are the creators and executive producers of the series. Pamela Oas Williams and Effie Brown also serve as executive producers. Charles Pratt will serve as showrunner for the series.